doorbells

[calimac]

A friend asks about doorbells and whether she should get one for her house.

Doorbells are the mischief.

1. You come up to the house. You ring the doorbell, you don't hear a thing. The occupant opens the door to greet you. Lesson: Functioning doorbells can't always be heard from outside the house.

2. You come up to the house. You ring the doorbell, you don't hear a thing. Nothing happens. You remember Lesson 1. You ring again.

2a. The occupant opens the door; they were just slow responding or were where they couldn't hear it the first time.

2 cont'd. Nothing happens. You knock on the door, once or maybe twice, loudly.

2b. Still nothing happens. Nobody is home.

2 cont'd. The occupant opens the door.

You inform them that their doorbell appears to be broken.

Response:

A. "Really? I didn't know."

B. "Oh yeah, it's been broken for a while."

Unspoken reply: "How the heck was I supposed to know that?"

3. You come up to the house. Worn out by repetitions of scenario 2, possibly even at the same house, you ignore the doorbell and knock at the door. The occupant opens the door, and says:

"Why didn't you ring the doorbell?"

Unspoken reply: *deep sigh*

4. VERY RARE. You come up to the door. The doorbell has tape over it with a piece of paper reading "Doorbell broken" on it.

Comments

[maureenkspeller.livejournal.com]

You know, my entire life experience as a canvasser seems to be encapsulated in this post.

Though there are also the houses with no doorbell, where the occupant seems to take it amiss that you've knocked on the door instead. Do they never have visitors?

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Speaking as one with a broken doorbell, the tap falls off eventually--and you don't realize it until someone tells you they rang and rang and nobody answered . . . so you put up another . . .

[mithriltabby]

I was irked that when we moved into our house, there once had been wiring for a regular doorbell, but they had since switched to an unreliable wireless one. Someday I may have a traditional one put in...

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

Yes, the humor of truth and recognition.

Our doorbell works! But I've encountered all the situations above.

[wild-patience.livejournal.com]

Having lived for 16 years in a house with a knocker instead of a doorbell, I am always extremely surprised to hear the doorbell, even after a year and a half of living here.